Portable floodlight unit for airports



Nov. 7, 1933. c w s 1,934,576

PORTABLE FLOODLIGHT UNIT FOR AIRPORTS Filed Nov. 5, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheetl Nov. 7, 1933. Q 1,934,576

PORTABLE FLOODLIGHT UNIT FOR AIRPORTS Filed Nov. 5, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet2 Patented Nov. 7, 1933 ears PORTABLE FLOODLIGHT UNIT FOR- AIR- 1 PORTSCleal 'r. wa es, Chicago, 111. Application November 5, 1932. 1 SerialNo. 641,440

2 Claims.

- 5 airport lighting now in general use. First by means of arcfloodlights, second by. batteries of incandescent lights and thirdindividual run-way lighting which is a new method recently adopted byairports having runways and considerable trafilc. This last methodprovides a pair of lights at each end of each runway controlled byremote control switches placed at the lights. These switches are.operatedfrom a central point or light tower. Only one set of lights isused at a time, this being the pair that projects into the wind. Theapproaching pilot observes the runway that is lighted and the end of therunway that has the lights turned on. This indicates the direction he isto land which is over the lights and, of course, into the wind. Thus ashe.actual-.

' ly touches the ground, the lights, are at his back and; he does notface a blindingglare from in front or side as he would in the first andsecond methods of lighting or rather as he would do in a great,manycases where the .wind is in such a direction that he could not landover the lights. If often occurs that a field, however, is renderedpartially unusuable at times by snowor mud and in that case it is verydesirable that some means be provided for indicating the best portionavaile able for landing and also indicating the direction in whichtheplane should land.

Emergency occasions also occur where a pilot.

cannot land upon a regular field becausethe field is closed in as by fogso as to shut out the pilot. The pilot under these circumstancesnotifies the ground crew by radio that there is an opening in thevicinity (whichmay, for instance be another airport unlighted perhaps orjust an ordinary 40 pasture) Under these circumstances, of course,

at. the present time no means is provided for lighting this unlghtedairport or lighting the pasture. The general object of the presentinvention, therefore, is to provide a portable lighting mechanism whichcan be readily transported to any portion of a field and may be used forfloodlightfng thisparticular portion of the field, thus indicating themost available lace to land and also indicating the direction in whichthe Q; landing should occur, and a further object is to provide aportable l ghting apparatus which may be readily transported by theground crew to an unlighted airport or to a pasture, the mechanismpermitting the ground crew to change ground,

select the best possible location for landing and plane is obliged tostay aloft until daylight, if

possible, or probably crash.

A further objects of the invention is to' provide an apparatus for thispurpose including a chassis, a generator, a motor for the generator,fioodlights operatively connected to the generator with means forcontrollingthe motor, the generator and the fiood 1ights, the chassisbeing adapted to be towed by a light motor car or even transported byhand to any desired position on a field or pasture. I u

, Cther objects will appear in the course of the following description.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein:-

Figure 1 is aside elevation of a floodlight ap paratus constructed inaccordance with my invention; V

Figure 2 is a detailed fragmentary section on the line 2-2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is an end elevation;

Figure 4 is a fragmentary, vertical section through the upper end of oneof the posts supporting a projector.

Referring to these drawings, it will be seen that my lighting unitcomprises a main supporting frame designated generally 19, which is madeof channel steel having seven inch flanges, thelength of the channelbeing six feet and its width 15 inches.

At one end this frame is, riveted, welded or otherwise connected to avertically disposed instrument-panel preferably constructed of sheetaluminum. The opposite ends of the channel steel frame 10 are connectedby a transverse web 12. A radiator of any suitable character, as forinstance the International truck radiator 13 is supported upon the web12. The instrument board andthe radiator are connected to each other bya sheet metal hood 14 upon which the gas tank 15 is supported. The framecomposed of the parts 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14 is carried by a two pointsuspension on axles 16 braced by conventional wishbones connected to across member 17 provided with their support at the middle o e f ame.

A tow bar 18 provides a trailing connection for the unit. The wheels 19may be of any suitable character but are preferably wire type wheelswith pneumatic tires.

Mounted upon the channel 10 is a generator 20. Preferably this is a D.C. generator shunt or compound Wound 12 k. w. 115 or 230 v. Also mountedupon the channel member 10 in alinement with the generator is the motordesignated generally 21. This may be of any suitable construction but Ihave used a four cylinder Chrysler gas motor for this purpose having theusual governor, carbureter, starter, generator, distributor, oil filterand gasoline tank. The motor is connected to the generator by means ofan L. R. flexible coupling 22.

Mounted at opposite ends of the frame are the tubular steel posts 23,each carrying at its upper end a rotatable U-shaped yoke 24 between thearms of which the projectors 25 are pivotally mounted. Each yoke 24 ispivotally mounted upon the post for swinging movement in a horizontalplane while the projectors 25 are mounted for swinging movement in avertical plane.

Thus projectors may be directed to any desired points of the field orused for signalling purposes. These projectors are preferablyconstructed of one-eight inch aluminum with a spun back Welded in placeand having a chromium plated steel reflector 26 having a five degreeparabolic curve. The bulbs 27 are preferably 115 v. 5 k. w. Any suitableconventional socket may be used. The lenses 28 are mounted in steelframes and are preferably sheet Pyrex. The two bulbs 29 are wired inseries with the generator so that 115 V. are furnished to eachfrorn the230 v. generator. Yokes 24 are preferably of channel steel cadmiumplated. Between the upper ends of the posts and the yokes 24 are placedthe four inch vibration absorbing cushions 30 of gum rubber. Throughthese cushions, the pivot bolts 31 pass. The upper ends of the standards23 are provided with screw-threaded collars 32, each collar receiving atits upper end the screwthreaded plug 32a upon which the cushion 30rests, the pivot bolt 31 passing through these cushions through a wearplate 24a and through the angle iron yoke 24. The purpose of the cushionis to absorb any vibration set up in the generator set as well asvibration due to traveling which might effect the light filament whilehot.

The instrument panel carries the light and ignition switches, ammeter,oil pressure gage, and a choke, throttle and starter control, all forcontrolling the motor, and also carries a volt meter, field rheostat andfused circuits for controlling the lights. Posts 23 may be connected inany suitable manner to the channel frame but preferably the posts at thelower ends are held to the frame and against supports 33 by means ofU-bolts 34.

It will be seen that I have provided a structure which is very compactand thoroughly portable and which may be readily transported to any partof a flying field or transported to any field pasture or other possiblelanding place in the vicinity of a landing field and there used totemporarily light up this landing place and if necessary to signal to aplane that a landing may be made.

With my construction, the motor is connected directly with the generatorso that there is no chance of slippage or uncertainty in operation. Mymotor is connected, as before stated directly to the generator and isonly used for operating the generator, thus doing away with thenecessity of using more or less complicated mechanism to engage ordisengage the generator. On reasonably solid surfaces, my unit can bemoved by hand power. My unit can readily be towed with a light tractorto any desired portion of a field where during winter months, softnessof the field or snow conditions, would prohibit truck travel. It is whenfields are in this condition that it is most essential to be able to puta lighting unit in position to give the pilot every possible advantageof winds and indicate the best available spot on the field to land. Mystructure is mounted on a chassis equipped with springs, pneumatic tiresand a towing device which will permit its being towed at a high speedover rough surfaces.

I claim:

1. A. portable floodlight unit for air fields including a supportingframe comprising a single longitudinally channeled base member, aradiator extending upward from, having the same width as, and supportedby one end of said base member, a sheet metal instrument panel extendingupward from and having the same width as the other end of the basemember, a sheet metal hood rigidly connected at one end to the radiatorand at the other end to said panel and constituting a brace to theradiator and panel, a gas tank supported thereby and disposed within thehood and immediately beneath the same, an electric generator mountedupon the base member on one end thereof, an internal combustion enginemounted upon the base member at the other end thereof and directlycoupled to the generator and operating in connection with the radiatorand gas tank, supporting posts mounted upon the base member at oppositeends thereof, projectors one for each post, a U-shaped yoke, one foreach projector, each yoke being rotatably mounted upon its correspondingpost for movement in a horizontal plane, each projector being swinginglymounted in its yoke for rotation in a vertical plane, lamps in theprojectors, connections from said lamps to the generator, and means onthe panel for controlling the engine and controlling the lamps, saidposts extending upward above the hood whereby the projectors may have anunobstructed field in all directions.

2. In a portable fioodlight unit of the character described, asupporting frame, a post extending upward therefrom, a U-shaped yokeangular in cross section, a lamp casing supported by the U-shaped yoke,a cap closing the upper end of the post, a vibration absorbing cushionmounted between said yoke and the cap, and a bolt passing through thecap, through the cushion and through the yoke and rotatably connectingthe yoke with the cushion.

CLEAL T. WATTS.

